Recent improvements in health care and general living standards have produced a population which is significantly older than previous generations. In addition, modern medical technology has enabled individuals who previously would have been seriously disabled, such as individuals suffering a broken hip to maintain a mobile, active lifestyle. New methods of treatment have also enabled those who otherwise would be confined to a wheelchair to walk with the aid of crutches, a cane, braces, etc. As a result, a broad spectrum of personal safety and mobility assisting devices are currently available for use by the aged or infirmed.
Walking canes augmented with various safety devices are a typical class of mobility augmenting products. Canes of this type may include light emitting devices which illuminate a path ahead of the user as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,625,742 to Phillips, 1,427,138 to Walicki et al., 2,173,624 to Dyer, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,597,172 to Parker.
Another category of personal safety devices include alarms which can be manually activated by the user to attract attention under exigent conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,901 to Lewis discloses a manually operable audible alarm combined with a flashlight. U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,080 to Divito et al. discloses an attachment for a walking cane which includes both an illuminating beam, and an audible alarm.
It has further been recognized that an individual injured by a fall, suffering angina, etc. may not be in a situation where an audible alarm will be heard by someone else. Devices have therefore been developed which broadcast a distress signal to a remote unit connected to a telephone. Upon actuation of the device, the remote unit executes a predetermined program and calls a sequence of telephone numbers with a prerecorded distress message. Linear, a Nortek Company, Carlsbad, Calif. manufactures such a device in the form of a pendant worn by the user. If the user experiences a disabling fall, or otherwise cannot reach the telephone, the user merely depresses a button on the pendant which signals the remote unit to start the automated telephoning sequence. Although the above devices appear in theory to adequately address safety issues concerning mobile yet otherwise infirmed individuals, serious problems are not addressed by these prior art devices.
Particular groups such as the elderly, individuals suffering from nervous system or muscular degenerative conditions often experience a lack of proprioception. Individuals afflicted with this condition lack the necessary internal feedback to determine by feel where their feet are in relation to the ground, steps, etc. These individuals must rely on their principal sense of visual depth perception to determine if their foot is positioned in a proper weight-bearing relationship with a support surface. To prevent an inadvertent fall, these individuals usually walk with a cane or other mobility assisting device such as a walker.
Prior art canes which illuminate the user's path significantly assist individuals suffering from a lack of proprioception. Nevertheless, these individuals invariably experience a disabling fall at one time or another. After a serious fall has occurred, walking canes having audible alarms such as that disclosed in the Divito et al. patent are helpful only if the user is able to reach the cane, trigger the alarm, and only if another individual is nearby to hear the alarm. Furthermore, the remote transmitting pendants such as the above-described Linear device suffer from a surprising drawback. As previously stated, individuals suffering from a lack proprioception are often elderly or otherwise infirmed. When these individuals fall, the results are often disastrous--a broken hip, ribs, head injuries, etc. These individuals may be unconscious, in extreme pain, disoriented, experiencing severe angina, partial paralysis or other conditions which prevent them from being able to manually actuate the transmitting device. As a result, these individuals suffer extreme discomfort, further medical complications or even death due to the lack of prompt emergency response.
Therefore, a need exists for a device which can provide the safety features heretofore known in the prior art, in addition to automatically summoning aid in the event of a disabling fall, or a fall which results in a disabling condition.